


Having Faith

by bitcheesquared



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, F/M, Requited Love, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-18
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 22:05:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2324813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitcheesquared/pseuds/bitcheesquared
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post 3.22 Elena becomes a Vampire and Damon lives up to his deal. But months later and miles from Mystic falls he meets a girl that is destined to change his life,and ultimately lead him back to the town and the girl he can't forget. How will Elena the vampire react to having a slayer come to town? And how will she feel when she suspects that Damon has moved on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the long hiatus with this story. I have been busy working on other stuff on my hard drive and periodically adding to this one as well. I have about fifteen chapters actually written but am still in the process of editing them before posting.
> 
> This story is turning into a bit of a monster for me as it combines two of my favorite verses and some of my all time fav characters. Have patience with me, it will get finished but I'm determined not to rush what is shaping up to be a rather more involved story than I had first planned. 
> 
> PS Please remember the only pay a fanfic writer gets is the acknowledgment that their story is being read... But reviews are like a Xmas bonus. 
> 
> Cheers   
> bitcheesquared

Chapter One 

 

Finding Faith. 

 

Eight Months after leaving the town of Mystic Falls, and his brothers’ girl behind him. Damon's kicking back in a Cleveland dance club of all places, when his life takes an unexpected turn. 

He's having a few drinks; while shopping for a potential meal, when he first notices her. 

She struts past him, all hair and attitude. Hips swaying in a way that has most of the surrounding men's eyes; and more than a few of the women's following her appreciatively, she gestures for the bartenders attention, orders, then turns to study the crowded dance floor .

Interest aroused, Damon straightens.

Abandoning his slouched position against the wall, he casually makes his way across the room. Sideling up to the bar; both to get a refill of his bourbon and a closer look, he studies her surreptitiously from beneath lowered lashes.

He shivers, an inner chill sweeping through him; he watches as she leans against the bar, a symphony of seduction and fearlessness. The strange dichotomy he senses within her sparking his interest. On many levels. 

He finds himself unsettled by his reaction; there is something different about her, it makes his skin tingle and his fangs ache, the rush of desire he feels is intense immediate and surprisingly (for him)shocking. 

Instinctively, he knows that what he's feeling is far more than the usual mix of attraction and hunger. The only two expectations that he allows himself these days; the summation of his existence since Elena finished what Katherine started. The door to his heart is sealed; his memories of both women have become the nails that ensure it will stay that way. 

But still; there's something about this girl. And it's lighting him up in a way he can't remember feeling for an eternity.

Watching her flirt with the bar tender, her eyes simultaneously sweeping the room with a feigned casualness that only sharpens his interest, he knows and accepts without question that this girl is dangerous, a predator, different somehow, but kin to what he sees in his mirror every day. 

There is something of Katherine in her knowing smile, her tilted head and casual hair toss. But there is also just enough of Elena in guarded eyes that scream vulnerability, to make him think that even being in the same room as this girl is far from his most stellar move. 

And when she turns her eyes doing a slow and careful inventory of every part of him, he knows he's right.

He also knows that this is the most he's felt since a certain goodbye from a girl he's never going to have, and this alone is enough to make him ask her name.

 

Her voice is husky with a faint tinge of Boston still curling at the edges, her eyes like dark chocolate, with a mouth that he knows will taste like desire and whiskey. 

She tells him her name is Faith.

The first time he touches her electricity seems to spark beneath his hand. It takes all of his formidable experience of women and his very long life, not to show it with an involuntary flinch or the gasp that wants to leave his lips. 

She's beautiful this woman, but Damon has known many beautiful women in the one hundred and forty five years that he'd waited for Katherine. 

 

When they take to the dance floor together there is something of the vampire in the way she moves and for a moment, he wonders if that's what he's been sensing. 

Clouds of dark hair drift across her shoulders as she sways to the music's slow and seductive beat. Each movement she makes an unspoken promise of pleasure. As her body brushes against him he's more than aware that this woman has lessons to teach a man, ones that could just cost him his soul. Every motion of her body is an invitation and Damon has seldom seen a woman, human or vampire that moves quite the way that this one does.

With her back pressed against his chest; close enough to make him ache; his hands mould themselves to her curves. Running them down the length of her lithe torso, he seeks that familiar pulse of life. 

Relief and satisfaction settle within him as her heart beat throbs beneath his palms, strong and slightly fast it confirms that this girl is very much alive. 

And then her arm is twisting up to loop around his neck, pulling him impossibly closer and with it Damon forgets all the reasons it should matter. As her other hand runs down the length of his thigh, he loses himself in her scent. The thrum of her pulse so dangerously close to his mouth; unfurling his hunger and his need to take what she's offering. 

He decides then, that for this one night he's going to be reckless; reckless in a way he hasn't been since leaving Mystic Falls. Tonight he wants to finally get lost in something other than memory and regret.

 

Still. Later when she suggests they go somewhere quieter, he knows he should say no. That it's likely that this won't end well. But he's so sick of running from life and from himself that he decides he wants to see how it's going to end. And her eyes are so full of promise as she reaches for his hand that he finds himself full of anticipation, despite his doubts.

It's a mutual decision to take it back to the motel that he's been holed up in for the last three weeks and as they walk through the dark, speaking far less that he'd expected, he studies her openly this time.

He watches the way she moves; how she seems to somehow melt into the darkness between each street light; her grace an unconscious by product of the predatory danger that seems to float around her like a perfume.

Oh yes, this girl is so much more than what you see on the surface and he knows; with his own inherent predatory skill that the fact that he can sense this means that she likely recognises the same in him. He also understands with a sudden feeling of freedom, that he doesn't care.

 

When they enter his room he plays the gentleman and asks her if she'd like a drink. For a moment he thinks he sees her eyes narrow in something vaguely resembling suspicion, but before he can be sure it's washed away by the slow smile that graces her lips.

As she moves into his arms; leaning forward and stretching up to take his mouth, there is a sudden rushing thrumming sound in his head. And as her teeth nip at his bottom lip, this time he finds himself helpless to stop his gasp from escaping.

Again, there is a sense of electricity between them; her heart rate spikes and he knows she feels it too. As his hands slide over the smooth perfection of her leather encased ass he finds himself needing and hungry in a way he hasn't been since another motel, with another dark haired girl not quite a year ago.

She seems just as hungry as he is her mouth greedy and her hands impatient to get to the skin beneath his clothes. 

He senses she is used to being in charge, so for the moment he defers to her need.

When she has his shirt off and she's down to her black lace bra, he drops to his knees reaching for the waistband of her leather pants. 

Looking up he's consciously aware of the affect his eyes have on a women; especially from this angle. He's not conceited in any way but he's comfortable in the fact that he can get nearly any woman he wants without the need for compulsion. Damon is used to being wanted and with more than a century and a half to practice his skills, he knows all the things to do that make a woman want what he has to offer. 

So meeting her dark gaze, he's understandably startled when he glimpses something unexpected. 

Along with the expected lust, he recognises another emotion; one that has no business appearing at this stage of their encounter.  
It looks very like regret and it's in that moment that he understands. 

 

It hits him with sudden certainty that there is much more going on behind those eyes than what's shown on her face.

Up until this point his only plans for the night had been to fuck her until she couldn't walk, then use his compulsion to feed. He had decided he liked her enough not to kill her and that he would go so far to leave her with pleasant memories of their night together. 

But now his self preservation instinct screams at him to 'get the fuck out'. 

 

Looking into her eyes it becomes apparent; even to someone as sure of his charms as he is, that there is more going on in her mind than the possible repercussions of a one night stand with a hot guy

Disconcerted by the sudden sense of danger now radiating off of her; he propels himself backwards. He streaks across the room, in a flash of the vampire speed that his kind are so good at. 

And it's just as well, because the stake is already descending before he moves; and where the fucking hell she'd been hiding it was just one of the things that he'd like to know.

His fangs descend and he can feel the veins beneath his eyes pulse as she lunges after him. And Jesus fucking Christ she's fast; not vamp fast but still too damn quick for a human. 

It's almost comical, when a moment later the words that burst from both their mouths are practically identical.

"What the fucking hell are you?"

"What the Fuck! What are you, you freak?" 

 

They both freeze. And Damon, startled into sudden amusement finds his fangs melting away his face returning to normal as he lets out a snort of irreverent laughter. 

He tells her to watch who she's calling a freak because he's got a pretty good idea that she's not exactly all normal herself.

She rolls her eyes, informs him she's a slayer and then asks him, 'what's his excuse?'

Damon makes it pretty clear he's doesn't have a clue what she's blathering about and then asks for clarification.

So she gives him some spiel about being a Slayer; emphasis on the capital S and that she apparently hunts vampires and wait for it, demons?

When he only shrugs; returning her gaze with a look still devoid of recognition, the hand holding her stake drops to her side and her sensual kiss swollen mouth tightens in patent disbelief. 

He finds her "Dude where have you been. You new or something?" vaguely insulting, but decides to let it go because he really wants to know just what he's stumbled into.

She tells him that there used to be only one Slayer until a big spell a few years back and that now apparently there is; to quote a friend of hers: A shit load more of us. 

Her voice is all snark and continuing disbelief; as she asks him if what she's just told him is ringing any bells.

He has to admit that no, it doesn't and then, as her full explanation catches up to him he asks her what she means by demons. Then he tells her he doesn't believe there is any such thing in very nearly the same breath.

He guesses she might have taken exception to his tone; or it could be him implying that she's a liar because she informs him she doesn't really care either way. Apparently she only wants to know what he is so she can tell someone she calls her watcher. She  
then informs him that if he cooperates she will kill him quickly and as painlessly as possible. She also mentions something about jonesing for Taco's and the fact that his continued existence is getting in the way of her eating them.

Damon just raises one eyebrow and snorts again. He informs her quite glibly; that it isn’t going to happen. 

He then goes on to say that even though she's a slayer; whatever the hell that might or might not be, he's faced down much scarier than her in the form of original vampires, witches, werewolves and hybrids. And on one occasion all of them at the same time. 

So he really can’t see one cocky little brunette killing him any time soon."

Then, to prove how little of a threat he finds her he lounges nonchalantly against the wall and does the eye thing that used to drive a certain other girl so crazy. 

 

And doesn't it piss him off; that even miles and months away his every thought and reaction still finds a reference that leads back to her. Including his current situation.

With that acknowledgement, he's jolted back to his present location and the annoyed expression on Faith's face. Then, just to show there are no hard feelings and because she's hot when she scowls, he offers to tell her what she wants to know. 

So he tells her he's a vampire and that he's been around for over a century and a half.

That's where the night gets if possible, even more interesting and surreal. 

 

She snorts, before informing him snidely that there is no fucking way he's a vampire, because she kills vampires and she's never seen anything that looks remotely like him.

As annoyed as he is by her tone and her air of lecturing condensation; he can't help thinking that she looks gorgeous standing there arguing with him. Especially since she has neglected to put a shirt back on which only emphasises her breasts even more, as she crosses her arms and gives him a stubborn look. He also can't help thinking there must be something encoded in his DNA, which causes him to become enamoured of bossy brunets that have more courage than brains and a definite tendency to be bitchy when things don't go their way.

 

They argue for a good ten minutes more and he's starting to get a little irritated, that his night is turning out so disappointingly when it had been so full of promise. But before he can work up a really good reason to either snap her neck or possibly just leave; they are interrupted by the trilling of what can only be her phone. 

The distinctive melody of It's Raining Men, pretty much guarantees it's not his.

She looks sheepish and then sort of embarrassed and mutters something about killing B, which Damon finds both confusing and more than a little amusing as she fumbles to answer it.

Her sharply snapped what? does not bode well for the callers intentions and Damon finds his interest peak as he hears the voice on the other end of the phone snark back with equal annoyance. Moments later it peaks again as he hears her tell the caller 'that she doesn't give a flying fuck what Spike thinks coz it's supposed to be her night off' and besides which, she's in the middle of something. 

He concentrates a little harder at that and he can make out the tones of a woman's voice; demanding that Faith get her ass back to HQ because someone called Robin is drunk and that it's not hers and Spike's responsibility to clean up Faith's shit.

Damon sees her flush with what could be anger, but he's guessing from her expression is probably a whole combination of different emotions; anger not the least of them.

She mutters something about how he should have thought about that, before he stuck it to Carrie. Then, after a furtive glance at Damon she cut's off whatever else she might have been going to say, in favour of a heavy sigh.

The woman then says something again about Spike and an anniversary; which for some reason just seems to set Faith off all over again. 

She makes a cutting remark about telling William the bloody he can just go fuck himself. And that's when Damon decides that the night is officially beyond bizarre. 

 

There's more but Damon tunes out, preferring to get himself a drink and think about what he's just overheard.

When she gets off the phone moments later he's stretched out on the bed, drink in hand. As she turns to face him he's not sure if he should feel insulted, that she doesn't seem perturbed by his casual disregard of her presence.

He decides to let it go when her attention focuses back on him. Then she asks him where they were, before they were so rudely interrupted.

Of course, he gets a good deal of satisfaction as he tells her that he'd much rather talk about why a bunch of Slayers are hanging around with one fourth of the scourge of Europe than go over the yes I am, no you're not dance that they had been on earlier. 

And then he informs her that if they aren't going to fuck, then she might as well take him to Spike and have him clear the whole vampire thing up.

Pissed off and surprise are both things that look good on her. 

For a minute he finds himself actually hoping by some miracle that she'll choose to call his bluff and finish what they started earlier. (The fucking, not the fighting.) But no, once she gets over the whole shock of him actually claiming to know Spike she decides that she's going to give him the benefit of the doubt and take him back to what she terms slayer central.

Damon pouts and tells her she doesn't know what she's missing, before tossing her shirt to her while he slides into his own.

 

Five minutes later they are walking out the door and she's full of questions about how he knows Spike. But before he can even give her the sanitized version of Spike's and his past, she's interrupting herself to explain; with what Damon is now pretty sure is embarrassment that when they get back he probably shouldn't mention them hooking up earlier. It seems the Robin that was mentioned on the phone is her ex and apparently, he's not taking the breakup real well.

She then goes on to inform him that the other reason she doesn't want anyone knowing what they'd been up to is that B (apparently a person) is a bit of a (in Faith's words) vampire groupie and Faith doesn't want to lose her upper hand by letting B (short for Buffy, Poor Girl) know that she'd been willing to board that train, even if it was a bait and stake thing. 

He raises an eyebrow at that and amazingly enough she flushes and looks away. 

Then she starts babbling something about his soul and whether he actually has one and just generally working herself up into a state where he's pretty sure said state, has a river called denial running right through it. 

He nods agreeably. After all, he's planning on getting in to her pant's sometime in the near future so he's decided the better part of valour and all that Yada yada yada. Besides, she's smoking hot when she gets all worked up.

 

So, on they go down the dark and dirty streets of Cleveland, with her doing her best not to look at him and Damon doing his best not to just grab her and kiss her; if only to remind her why she smells of frustration and arousal.

After all; he’s got all the time in the world... and apparently, all the Faith as well.


	2. Renewed Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damon's life in Cleveland seems seems to be going remarkably well... but of course the universe couldn't possibly let that go on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned. This is shaping up to be an epically long story and not even I as the author can be sure who Damon will ultimately end up with. Muses are a notoriously fickle lot and mine is quite the bitch.  
> Reviews are greatly appreciated and very much the fuel that fires up the desire to post frequently.  
> So if you like this and want more... let me know and I'll poke my muse and if all fails guilt trip the hell out of her.

It's been a little over a month since Faith came into Damon's life and he has to admit that whatever else you could say about the changes in said life, no way could it said to be boring.  


Entering the slayer compound that first night still gives him shivers when he thinks about it. He knows now that the strange electric tingling he thought was part of his attraction to Faith, was actually some sort of freaky early warning system that would allow a vampire (smarter than him) to run for the hills.  


He'd practically had convulsions when he first entered the building that housed the twenty or so slayers that were permanent residents of Cleveland. And it had taken him a good hour of being in the Slayers presence for him to feel even close to normal.  


He found it interesting that apparently Spike didn't get the same buzz, he said his was more like a gentle prickling behind his eyes when he first came in to contact with a slayer, but nothing as severe as what Daman had described.  


Of course that's when Damon had dropped his bombshell, that it was very likely because Spike was a different type of vampire than Damon.  


The statement might have caused suspicion and unwanted tension making things very uncomfortable for Damon, but strangely enough it was Buffy, Spike's girlfriend, that diffused the situation. Apparently she'd always wondered why Dracula had been so different to other vamps and after meeting Damon, she'd finally got an answer.  


Spike, then made some rather cutting comments about the poofter and his gypsy tricks, but allowed that yeah, old Drac had been a bit of an odd one. And since he'd only met Damon that once and that everyone had stuck to their human faces, he really hadn't thought about it, not until Dracula had turned up in Sunnydale and tried to kidnap Buffy.  


Damon was secretly amused when he learned that Dracula still owed Spike the eleven pounds, but decided not to make a case out of the fact that Spike still owed Damon fifteen pounds. He figured Spike's good will was worth the money, especially if he wanted to see a certain slayer again.  


So Damon filled them all in on his type of vampire and tried to ignore the disgruntled expression on Spike's face when he let slip that Damon's kind, as far as he knew, had souls and no problem with religious paraphernalia of any type. He figured he'd talk to Spike privately about the whole daylight ring thing. It was the least he could do, considering the other vampire was willing to vouch for him.  


After that the night had gone fairly well and far better than he would have expected, right up until Faith's ex crashed their little party.  


Once upon a time Damon had been a gentleman and even as a remorseless killer, he had still had a gentlemanly flair. He might rip your throat out, but he would never be unnecessarily rude to a woman.  


So when the well muscled drunk; who Damon rightly assumed to be Faiths ex stumbled into the sitting room where they were having their little show and tell, Damon was not surprised to find himself bristling on the behalf of both Faith and Buffy.  


Robyn Wood, was a total dick. Within moments of entering the room he made it very clear that he hated Spike intensely and thought Buffy was a traitor to her calling. Then, if that wasn't enough he went on to call Faith a cold hearted bitch that had driven him in to another woman's arms with her inability to commit with anything other than what was between her legs.  


Damon found himself having a whole new level of respect for both of the slayers, as neither of them rose to the bait at Robyn's obvious goading  


Spike of course was not so restrained. But before he could leap forward and do something violent; that would very likely not go down well in a building full of slayers, Faith had stepped in.  


First she tried to reason with him and when that didn't work, she told him to go sleep it off and they could talk in the morning. Robyn apparently had other ideas and that's when Damon decided he'd had enough.  


Robyn Wood, unexpectedly found himself suspended a good foot off the ground, subsequently meeting the blood filled eyes of a very annoyed Damon Salvatore.  


Damon then very calmly informed the other occupants of the room that he would be quite happy to demonstrate any other of his kinds’ vampire skills and their differences; they only had to say the word.  


The word vampire seemed to piss Mr Wood off even more, because he started saying some very unpleasant things about Faith always wanting to take Spike out for a test drive and how it looked like Buffy could relax now that she'd found one of her own.  


At that comment; Damon let his face melt back into its normal striking beauty and asked rather snarkily if Robyn really thought that he needed to pull the vampire card to get a woman? Didn't Mr Wood think he was pretty enough? He even managed a convincing pout as he hefted Wood a couple of inches higher.  


He wasn't sure who was more surprised, Wood or himself, when Faith chipped in with her... Hell no his being a vampire had sweet FA to do with her wanting to ride him at a gallop the moment they'd met. And even after realizing what he was, it was still five by five with her.  


Spike's guffaw of laughter and Buffy's barely suppressed giggle must have finally told Wood that he wasn't going to get the reaction he wanted. He gathered what was left of his drunken sanity and asked sullenly, if not impolitely to be put down.  


Damon dropped him immediately, telling him that all he had to do was ask.  


Robyn Wood practically slunk from the room. 

Al in all Damon considered what he now thought of as his first date with Faith to have gone quite well, all things considered. And over the next few weeks he'd been alternately bemused bewildered and awed, as he learned about the slayers world and all its attendant dangers.

The fact that Cleveland sat on something called a Hellmouth had been staggering enough. But the first time he'd seen a demon he'd been very glad that Stefan wasn't around to see the look on his face; he was certain he would never have heard the end of it. 

After that first night he'd found every excuse and opportunity to meet up with Faith whenever possible. And once he found out her usual patrolling route (thank you Buffy) he made sure to bump into her regularly, until eventually she just excepted that he was going to be there waiting for her.

Faith; despite her comments to Robyn Wood on the night she and Damon had met, had to Damon's way of thinking suddenly decided to get cautious and back off from whatever it was the simmered between them. He wasn't sure if it actually was the whole vampire thing, or if it was just because she wasn't looking for anything more than a one night stand. He just knew that he wanted her and she was resisting him. And that meant that once again he was being rejected by a woman that he found himself wanting.

So Damon decided then and there that he was either going to get her to admit her attraction and her reasons for avoiding going to bed with him, or he was just going to get a fucking clue and move on. And quit dating, liking, or possibly even talking to brunets for at least the next century or so.

 

Twenty four hours later Damon was a much happier and well laid vampire. It seems Faith had been holding back because she was just as insecure as Damon. For the first time in his life his looks had not been a plus. Faith, as Damon had guessed was not into commitment, but she wasn't one to share either. She'd seen the way the other slayers had ogled Damon whenever he'd come to the compound and she was determined not to repeat the mistake's she'd made with Robyn Wood. 

Fortunately for Damon, he'd shown zero interest in any of the other slayers and it was that, more than all of the attention he paid Faith, that finally convinced her that denying them both was stupid.

So just shy of nine months after leaving Mystic Falls, Damon Salvatore found himself in the unusual and largely unknown position (at least for him) of being happy for the first time in a very very long while. 

Faith was as passionate and wild in bed as he could ask for. And more importantly she was honest and open about what she wanted from him. Within a very short time Damon not only considered her to be his only lover but also his best friend and by the time they'd been seeing each other for three months, even the pain of leaving Mystic Falls was starting to dim.

While he still thought of Elena and knew that his love for her would not change, he found himself beginning to accept what she had decided as being the only possible truth; at least for her. And so for the first time since leaving that God cursed town behind, he could honestly say he had no desire to return. And it was all thanks to Faith and her passionate care.

That's why it was so damn unexpected and unfair when just four months after he and Faith had first become lovers, she turned up out of the blue one night and informed him that she needed him to come on a little road trip with her. It seemed there was a prophesy about some two headed threat that would bring about the end of all mankind if it wasn't stopped and the place that it was going down was (of course) in the ultimate irony that was Damon's life, a quaint little town called Mystic Falls.


	3. Yours Faithfully

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damon arrives home and things aren't quite the way he expected.

It was just after five am on a Saturday morning that found one tired vampire and an unusually stressed vampire slayer pulling up in front of the Salvatore boarding house. 

They had been on the road for ten hours straight, stopping only for gas, food and the odd bathroom break. Which combined with the numerous nights spent in crappy motel rooms just to get to Mystic Falls, had not left either of them in the best of moods. 

The lack of information and the unknown quantity that was their potential foe, had dictated that the first order of business would be to send someone to Mystic Falls on a recognisance mission. And since Damon was familiar with the town and its inhabitants, it was decided by the Council that their best chance at finding out anything would of course be to send Faith and by dint of association with both, Damon. 

Damon had learned that the council of watchers, or COW as it was called by some of the less reverent slayers, was headed up mostly by the older slayers and a few of the Sunnydale survivors. Faith, as the second oldest slayer and the girlfriend of the only ex resident vampire of Mystic Falls, had of course been considered the only choice for this particular mission. 

Faith herself was a council member and as reluctant as she was to make the trip; even she could see the logic of Damon and herself being the ones to go. Though she'd known full well that Damon would balk at the idea of going back to the town he'd left behind a little over a year ago, she had in the end managed to persuade him, she just hoped they both didn't end up regretting it.. 

So here he was, back in the town that had been the site of his broken heart not once, but twice. To the very house that held the bulk of his memories, most of which featured Elena.

As he got out of the car, Faith came around the front of the Camaro and grabbed his hand. Pulling him against her body she reached up and kissed him slowly and lingeringly, knowing instinctively that he needed the reassurance that her touch would bring. Damon kissed her back with the passion tinged desperation borne of tiredness and trepidation, trying not to think about what lay ahead of him in the very near future.  
He hadn't let anyone know he would be returning to town so he wasn't expecting anyone to even be aware of his arrival until later in the day; which is undoubtedly why he missed the twitch of curtain and the flash of pale skin at the window on the second floor.  
He was truthfully; far too caught up in their kiss to even bother looking towards the house and by the time he did, the observer had fled to the safety of their room.

Pulling back from Faiths mouth, he cupped her face with his hands and searched her gaze. Stroking her cheeks with his thumbs, he smirked and asked her what that was for. When she just smiled and said because he was hot and she felt like it, he couldn't help the laugh that escaped.  
Pulling her close he steered them towards the house, at the same time whispering in her ear about what he was going to do to her once he got her alone in that huge bed he'd been telling her about. How he was going to make her scream so loud that her throat would be sore for days and how that was okay with him, because he loved it when her voice got all husky from their play. And fuck he was tired, but not so tired that he wasn't going to have her at least once before they crashed for the day.  
Faith just laughed that low sexy laugh that was one of the things he loved about being with her and whispered a few suggestions of her own, even as Damon pushed the front door open.

He was grinning and pulling her in for another kiss, when his brother’s voice interrupted. 

His, Hello brother where the hell have you been, was not exactly what Damon expected, but that was Stefan for you, always full of questions and expectations which he Damon failed to live up to. 

Looping his arm around Faiths waist he turned to face his brother, smirk firmly in place.

"Well hello to you to little brother, so nice to know you've missed me", he drawled, as he guided Faith past him and towards the parlour. 

"Stef, Faith. Faith this is Stefan, my baby bro." He leaned towards her, the back of his hand shielding his mouth from his brother and stage whispered. 

"Shh, don't tell anyone, but he's a vampire too."

Stefan just rolled his eyes. 

"Nice to meet you Faith," he nodded to her his expression polite, but grim.

"Damon, we need to talk. Now." He said, gesturing towards the study. "Faith If you'll excuse us," he added, his expression unchanged as he studied the woman Damon had brought home with him. 

Turning back to face his brother he dismissed the questions that her presence dictated, in favour of far more pressing matters.

"I won't keep him for long, we just need to catch up on some family business." he offered apologetically, without even looking her way again. 

Faith glanced questioningly at Damon; his eyes met hers briefly before nodding. His; tell you about it later, clear in his gaze even as he spoke.

"Hey Babe why don't you relax and fix yourself something to drink, have a look round, this shouldn't take too long and then we can get back to more important matters" he offered, with a brow quirk and a deliberate leer.  
Leaning in and kissing her just below her ear he whispered, low enough so Stefan wouldn't hear "Stay alert" then let her go with more reluctance than he liked to admit.

 

The moment Damon entered the study behind his brother; he knew something serious was up. 

Stefan immediately went to the small sound system that Damon had installed the last time he'd come back. Turning it on, he adjusted the volume just enough, Damon noted, to mask their conversation from vampire hearing.  
His eyebrows rose at that, but by the time Stefan had turned back to face him he'd carefully schooled his featured to blankness.

"So what's up that couldn't' wait until we'd gotten some shuteye little brother?" 

He trailed one idle hand across the desk and deliberately avoided his brothers’ gaze.

"Where the Fucking Hell have you been Damon?" Stefan demanded angrily without preamble. 

"I've been calling your cell off and on for over a year and leaving you God knows how many messages. When you didn't call me back I started contacting everyone we know." 

He scowled. 

"No one I called had seen you or had a clue that you'd even left town. After six months of hearing nothing we even had Bonnie do a locator spell, but it fizzled. “He admitted with a glare. 

"Fuck Damon, when we couldn't find any trace of you even I started to think you might be dead, that maybe one of the surviving originals or hybrids had taken you out." He ground out, his frustration and anger palpable.

"Why the hell would you leave without even saying goodbye? I thought we were good with each other" added Stefan. His tone was both heated and accusing and unless Damon was imagining it, tinged with no small amount of hurt. 

"How could you just leave her like that? Leave me here with only Caroline to help me hold her together?" 

He ran both hands through his hair, his frustration and tiredness suddenly plain, as he deliberately caught Damon's eyes. 

"She needed you Damon and you weren't here and I... we couldn't reach you...”He trailed off and looked away before continuing. “It got bad Damon, real bad. I fucking needed you and you weren't here."

 

Damon felt the first prickles of alarm; this was not the brother he knew. Stefan seemed tired and desperate, like he was at the end of his rope. Damon couldn't begin to imagine what had happened to make him this way, unless...  
His gut clenched with sudden fear and before he had time to think about it he was across the room, his brothers’ arm in his grasp. 

"Tell me she's okay Stefan that nothing's happened to her?" he snarled, jerking his brother around to face him. "If you let something happen to her..."

"And if it had?" hissed Stefan, cutting him off. "What the fuck do you care, you disappeared. You've been gone for over a year and judging by your present company you haven't exactly been pining for the woman you professed to love. " 

Stefan's mouth twisted into his familiar disapproving sneer. 

"What was it big brother... did she became a vampire and suddenly you decide that you're not as in love as you thought you were? Or maybe she was just a little too much like Katherine for you to keep living the fantasy?"

Ignoring his comments, Damon ground out "Is She Okay?' Regardless of his brothers ire he was determined not to lose his temper, no matter how much he might feel justified. 

Glaring at Stefan, he let his brothers’ arm go and backed away. 

Carefully concealing any signs of the raging emotion that was threatening to boil over; he leaned back on the desk and tried not to let his fear overwhelm him.

Please God don't let her be dead. Please anything, just don't let her be gone.

When Stefan sighed and seemed to reach for some semblance of calm Damon felt his anxiety relax; Stefan's expression giving him the answer he needed.

 

"She's alive if that's what you mean." Stefan admitted his tone curt. "As for okay... No Damon, she is most definitely not okay." 

He walked over to the sideboard and poured himself a drink. Gesturing towards Damon in enquiry; he pulled out another glass and poured his brother the same.

"I don't really know where to start" he admitted wearily, while staring pensively into his glass. "She seemed fine that first night, well as fine as we could of expected." he sighed and took a sip of his drink.

"We thought she was in shock at first. Waking up like she did was hard and going in I knew that she might have problems because of the way it happened, but after the transition she crashed and when she woke up she said she didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't push." 

He caught Damon's gaze with his. 

"It wasn't until she realized that you had gone that she started to crack. And it was weeks before any of us recognized that something was really wrong, or that it had started a night or so after you left" he added reluctantly.  
He held up the bottle and Damon let him refill his glass while they both tried to marshal their thoughts.

"She started sneaking out," Stefan admitted. "We’d get a call or maybe just a text telling us that she was in some town or other; asking for someone to come get her because she had no idea how she had gotten there." 

As he continued to explain, Damon watched his mouth tighten with remembered distress.

"If we were lucky there would be only one body to clean up, other times there were two or three.”And it doesn't matter what we try, she always seems to be able to just disappear whenever she needs to. Don't get me wrong," he threw in wearily "it's not like it's every night, or even every other week, sometimes a month goes by without her leaving the house, but in some ways that's nearly worse" Stefan confessed, his expression becoming hard.

"When she is here, it like she's checked out, she just sits upstairs in the room she uses now and does nothing, and I do mean nothing Damon. She won't eat, or talk, or even sleep until she passes out and nothing we try works. She's wasting away before our eyes and she won't even let me comfort her. The only reason she's still alive, is because she feeds during her blackouts, and Damon, she can't or won't tell any of us anything. It's like she's gone- like all that's left is the vampire."

He met Damon's eyes. "I don't know what to do for her' he confessed, his frustration obvious.

"Bonnie has tried every magical resource she knows, but she's found nothing, and she can't get too close to Elena anyway, because Elena does not do well around humans." He snorted. "Hell, that's an understatement, she hasn't seen her brother in well over nine months, because the last time he came over she tried to rip his throat out." 

Putting his drink down, he moved over to the windows and pulled one curtain aside to stare out into the early morning light. 

"She's like a zombie, Damon. The only time she comes close to being normal, is when we pick her up from one of her little trips, and then it's mostly just crying and saying how sorry she is." Still staring out the window, Stefan seemed to get lost in his memories, as despair leaked into his voice.

"I've failed her Damon, she doesn't want my help and the only thing she's asked about, or seemed interested in over the last year, is you" he admitted, his voice harsh as bitterness overtook his despair. 

"She asks if we've heard from you every time she's lucid enough to register her surroundings, and I couldn't even give her that comfort, because we didn't know where the hell you'd gone or why, or for that matter if you were even still alive." He turned back and stared hard at this brother.

"So why the disappearing act? And how long are you hanging around for?"He asked flatly, his face and body still in a way that Damon recognized only too well. 

 

Typical thought Damon sarcastically. Somehow, it always ends up being my fault.

Damon stared, his expression carefully blank, as he fought several disparate urges at once. Reminding himself yet again, not to lose his temper, he very carefully took an unneeded breath and had a sip of his bourbon, before answering.

"I left little brother." he took another sip " because if you remember, not to put too fine a point on it, we" he pointedly gestured between himself and his brother "that, being the both of us" he interjected sarcastically "agreed that whomever she didn't choose would leave town, giving the other a chance to get on with their happy Elena filled life." he added flippantly. 

"Ergo...You were the one she chose, so I got the hell out of dodge." His gaze hardened with his confession, before dropping away. Reaching for the bottle and refilling his glass, he carefully avoided looking at his brother as he continued.

"I decided a clean break was best for all of us, so I tossed my cell about an hour out of town. It's somewhere at the bottom of the Wickery river, so checking my voice-mail... not really an option." he explained dismissively 

"Actually, I've only just gotten another one recently and it's a brand new service; again, because of the whole clean break thing".

"As for staying," he shrugged "I can't tell you how long we are going to be here, because It's going to depend on a lot of things, but It won't be any longer than I can help it that's for sure." he added, watching his drink swirl as he played with the glass. 

"If I had my way, I wouldn't have come back to Mystic Falls at all." Damon admitted, his expression flickering with pain, before renewed resolve hardened it. 

Turning back to face his brother, he schooled his features, his expression carefully neutral, so as not to give away the anger that was, even as he spoke, begging for release.

"Faith and I have some business here in Mystic Falls, but as soon as that's cleared up, we'll be right out of your hair again. As for Elena" he added, deciding to address the elephant in the room. "She made her choices pretty clear to me over a year ago." He threw back the last of the bourbon in his glass, before continuing. 

"I'll speak to her, if you think it will help, but I'll be doing it for you... not her" he declared "I already wasted a hundred and forty five years chasing after one woman with her face, I have no intention of doing it again." he stated, his bitterness surfacing as he raised his eyes.

"And just to be clear, baby brother..." His gaze was hard and his eyes were cold, as he met Stefan's. 

"If Elena by some miracle had chosen me instead of you, it wouldn't have mattered what she was, or wasn't. You fucking know that if it wasn't for our agreement I would have been here for her, regardless of the circumstances" he stated scathingly. "If anything out of the two of us, It wouldn't have been me that had a problem with her being a vampire. So don't you ever think of saying something so stupidly asinine to me again, or I Will happily stake you." he hissed 

Carefully setting his empty glass down on the desk, he strode towards the door.

"Now, I'm going up to get some sleep. Faith and I will fill you in on what's happening, when we come down again, and you can see If Elena is in the mood for visitors, and If so, I'll head up to see her. But in the mean time, I'm no pun intended, dead on my feet and I need blood, so anything else can be shelved until I've had both, okay?" Holding the edge of the partially open door with his hand, he waited for Stefan's response.

Stefan looked troubled at his words, but only nodded grimly .

Damon swung the door open the rest of the way, determined to get upstairs and away from his brother so he could think, he was nearly out the door, when his brothers voice made him pause.

 

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you're back Damon. Welcome Home." the other offered, his tone and expression hesitant.

Damon stilled, before once again raising his gaze to his brothers.

"Thanks for the thought Stef" he drawled out, suddenly tired of the whole thing. "But this isn't my home anymore, it hasn't been my home for a long time" he tossed over his shoulder, as he turned. 

"later Bro." he added mockingly. 

He held out his hand as Faith got up from the sofa to join him. Then clasping her hand tightly in his, he headed towards the stairs and the peace of his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review


	4. Faithful friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damon runs into Caroline and both of them air some truths. 
> 
> Please Review

Damon, contrary to his intentions and his earlier words to his brother, hadn't immediately crashed like he'd expected to. 

Restive, he'd shown Faith up to his room and lingered only long enough to show her where everything was. He then headed back out to the car for their bags, knowing that both he and Faith would want a shower and a change of clothes before they dealt with his brother and his friends. Dropping them at the base of the stairs with the intention of grabbing a bottle of something to take up with him, he'd abruptly decided that getting something to eat was probably a better plan and had headed to the basement for a couple of blood bags. 

Ten minutes later no longer hungry and oddly wide awake, he found he was still unwilling to go back up stairs and field the questions Faith undoubtedly had, so he headed back to the great room and was in the process of pouring himself a stiff drink, when Caroline arrived.

He sighed internally and braced himself.

"Vampire Barbie! long time no see, how's dog boy?" he asked, with a crooked grin, glass held up in salute.

"Damon." she acknowledged her tone less than friendly.

"Stefan said you were back and that you'd brought some skank with you." She moved towards him, her expression and tone contemptuous. 

"So... I don't know if he mentioned it... but if you wanna keep your little blood bag alive, I suggest you get her out of here. Elena doesn't play nice with humans and I'd hate to have to clean skank out of the carpet if she decides to help herself" she drawled nastily, while flopping carelessly down on the nearest sofa. 

"So, where have you been?" She asked. 

Her tone was dismissive, but her eyes glittered like shards of blue ice; her harsh words only underlining the fact that Caroline Forbes, was not at all happy with him.

"Aww Care" he drawled provocatively, deliberately using Elena's pet name for the other girl. His tone was sweet enough to induce diabetic shock, as he gave her his best flirty look. 

"It's so nice of you to care sweetheart, but Faith is more than capable of taking care of herself and FYI," he added, doing his flirty eye thing. "I wouldn't go calling her a skank to her face if I were you. She might not get your brand of funny the way I do." He smirked.

Caroline's mouth tightened at his words and her gaze narrowed, her eyes drifting towards the stairs and back to him as she thought about what he'd said. They widened, as she came to the conclusion that the girl upstairs was obviously not one of Damon's usual disposable bimbo's.

"Aww how sweet," she drawled coyly. "So-Damon's new girlfriend's a vamp." she mused, jumping to an even more obvious conclusion. 

"Get yourself another Rose, did we Damon? Someone to help fill the lonely nights while you were pining away for Elena." She was all sarcasm and bitchy sympathy, as she batted her eyes at him.

"Oh...but then, wait a second!" she inserted smoothly, snapping her fingers. 

"You don't seem like you were pineing all that much...what with the whole leaving town and not giving a shit! So, I guess you're over that phase now". she offered flippantly. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she shot him a dark look.

"So what's the plan Damon?" she enquired "just come back to see how Elena turned out as a vamp? Or maybe you thought Stefan hadn't had enough problems in the last year, thought you'd come home and give him a few more. Go on, you can tell me... what's it going to be this time Damon? You're obviously over Elena, so you must have something new up your sleeve to torment Stefan with" 

 

Damon's eyes dropped, his brows drawing into a frown at her words. He wanted to be pissed at her; he should be ready to rip her head off. Unfortunately the bitter tone in her voice, barely overlaying the hidden fear, made it difficult for him to react like he wanted.

Damon in truth was worried; he had never seen Caroline like this. Okay, so yeah, the bitch part was normal, it was the whole desperate part that was throwing him. The fear in her voice told him that she like Stefan was right on the edge and desperate to be pulled back from it. 

He took a quick swallow of his drink and decided to do something he seldom ever did... be honest. But first, he wanted some answers.

 

Seating himself at the other end of the sofa in his usual indolent slouch, he took an even larger swig of his bourbon, before turning and capturing her gaze.

"Okay Barbie, you've made your point, now would you mind telling me just what the fuck is going on with everyone? He leant forward, before continuing.

"I leave town... a move that you all should have been hugely if not insanely happy about and yet," he quirked a brow "when I drop by for a visit, both you and Stefan start acting like I abandoned my first born. So again! What the Fucking hell is going on?"He demanded, pinning her to her seat with his gaze.

His stare was intense, but not unkind, as he waited patiently to see if she if she was actually going to ditch the snarky attitude and respond to his more than blunt questioning.

 

Caroline's expression was telling. Her eyes immediately flickered away from his and this time, he had a feeling the furtive and briefly worried look she threw towards the stairs, had little to do with Faith.

When her eyes came back to his, he was disturbed to see the glint of barely suppressed tears overtaking the anger. And when she finally spoke her tone was very different, the words echoing Stefan's earlier sentiments.

"Where were you Damon?" she questioned, blinking back tears.

"Stefan said you didn't tell him much, but I really wanna know what was so important that it had you leave town in such a hurry, especially when you had to know what Elena was facing. Why would you do that to her Damon?" 

 

Her whole expression was one of bewilderment; examining his face like she'd never seen him before she shook her head slowly in denial, even as she continued.

"She needed all of us to be here for her Damon, not just Stefan and me. I thought you'd be the last person to just take off like you did." She admitted reluctantly, as she stood and started to pace the floor in front of him. 

Crossing her arms, she clutched her biceps as though trying to ward off an inner chill. Caroline glanced at him before looking away, her agitation clear in every line of her body, if not her words.

"I don't know how much Stefan told you Damon, but there are things that not even Stefan knows, things that Elena said when he wasn't around, other stuff that I don't know if I should tell you." she confessed haltingly. 

"She's been so lost since she transitioned, so detached, that at times I've been sure I was going to wake up and find that she was gone for good."   
Her voice hitched, the control she was barely maintaining over her emotions slipping. 

"The night she died... After... when Stefan brought her back here...he...he'd gone downstairs, to get her blood and she was still..." she blinked rapidly and swallowed hard, before continuing. 

"She was in shock. At least, that's what I figured and I'm not sure she really knew what she was saying... but she kept asking where you were, why you hadn't come." 

Caroline's eye's reluctantly sought his. 

"Then afterwards...after she'd... when she woke up, after the...the transition. Stefan was busy downstairs again, talking to Bonnie about a ring and ...and Elena, she told me about the phone call... the one just before she...before they went off the bridge."   
Releasing her arms, she brought her hands up to push her hair back off her face. 

"She said...she told me she'd been wrong, that she'd made the wrong choice. That it took her dying, to finally make her realize what she really felt. She kept saying that she knew that you were gone and that she'd screwed it all up." 

 

Damon felt his heart lurch in his chest. And it took all of his control not to ask her what she thought she was doing lying to him like this. 

He didn't get the chance. She looked away from Damon and closed her eyes before he could give into the temptation. 

"She was so strange Damon; I've never seen her like that. It was as if she was reciting something from a book or a story she'd heard. And her face Damon... " 

Caroline's brow furrowed with remembered confusion. "Her expression- it was so blank, like nothing mattered anymore." She sighed. 

"I tried to get her to tell me what she meant, but she just said that it didn't matter anymore, that it was too late. And that was the last time she held anything like a conversation with Me." admitted Caroline, her frustration and misery clear in her voice.

"Stefan came back from seeing Bonnie and Elena just clammed up and refused to talk, to either of us. It was two nights later that she disappeared for the first time." she divulged sadly.

 

Damon was concerned at her words, truthfully not only her words, but his brothers as well. He wasn't all that surprised to hear that Elena had asked for him. Despite her whole, I have to let you go speech on the phone, he knew he'd been a constant in her life   
for a while by that point and the one she'd turned to when Stefan was gone. So No, he wasn't surprised that it was him she'd asked for. As for the other thing? The whole, I made the wrong choice.

Nope he thought resolutely I'm not even gonna go there.

Better to concentrate on the other things he'd been told. It was the blacking out and the bouts of what sounded like catatonia that had him, as much as he hated to admit it, alarmed. 

As old as he was, he'd seen some pretty extreme ends of the spectrum when it came to after transition behaviour. But aside from Stefan's blackouts, which were intermittent and had started years after transition, he’d never heard of a vampire suffering memory loss during a kill. Not immediately after and most definitely not ongoing, not the way both Stefan and Caroline described. The not eating and sleeping, he could have put down to Elena and her usual massive guilt complex, but there was something about it that didn't ring true for Damon. Elena was neither coward nor a quitter and this smacked too much of both.

Caroline's next words, only served to heighten his worry.

"I know Stefan told you about the attacks and how she is in between them, but Stefan wasn't the one to find her that first time." she admitted, her expression suddenly guilty. 

She turned and made her way back to the sofa before sinking down on it; bowing her head she appeared to be studying the carpet, as she continued to explain. 

"I found her north of here two towns over that first time. She was holed up in some flea trap motel and by the time I got there..." 

She shuddered visibly. 

"Stefan thinks it was two bodies, that she drained them dry and somehow snapped out of it long enough to contact us. I didn't...I couldn't tell him the truth Damon. " 

Raising anguished eyes to his, she swallowed convulsively.

"She killed sixteen people Damon," Caroline confessed, licking her lips nervously.   
"I found sixteen bodies, ten men and six women "Drawing in a shuddering breath, she continued to recount the night’s events. 

"The motel was one of those no tell cheap by the hour places and it was a Saturday night, so that should tell you what sort of clientele it catered to. As far as I could tell, the women were all with clients. Then there was the night manager and another guy, probably security and two truckers. The truck drivers never even got out of their cabs." she admitted her tone strangely flat as her eyes dropped.

"She'd killed every living person in sight Damon and by the time I got there, she was just sitting in the last victims’ room, staring off into space. She was drenched in blood; more than I've ever seen... and it was so hard..." her breath hitched "for a minute I thought I was going to lose control as well.” she confessed, her expression tortured

"I've never felt anything like it, I was so fucking hungry. All I wanted to do was feed until I was as drenched in blood as she was."   
Her shoulders started to shake, a harsh sob heralding the tears that finally fell.

 

When she raised her eyes to his again Damon took an involuntary step towards her, his alarm heightened by the veins and the blood filled gaze that she turned on him. 

 

"Christ Damon, I don't want to think about what might have happened if Stefan had been with Me." she shuddered. 

"It took everything I had in me to hold it together that night. If he'd been there I don't think he would have handled all the blood, not so soon after Klaus." She rubbed at her eyes, as if to wipe away both the tears and her physical reaction to the memory.

"God Damon! I still don't know how I got through it, but I did." she declared, a hint of surprise and what he recognised as pride, in her voice. 

"I got rid of the bodies and cleaned up what I could and then I phoned Stefan and told him that we were on our way back. I had to tell him something, Damon," She offered pleadingly.   
"So I told him that she'd killed two guys but didn't seem to remember much, other than the fact that she'd killed them. I know I should have told him the truth, but I couldn't, she was just so lost Damon and I didn't want him looking at her differently because of something she couldn't even remember properly." Scrubbing at her face, she drew her hands back through her hair, her expression defiant as she continued.

"I thought about telling someone else, Bonnie maybe or even Jeremy, but they’re both human and Bonnie still has some trust issues with vampires."

 

Damon snorted inelegantly at that understatement. 

Caroline managed a weak grin at his reaction and shrugged before continuing.

"So anyway, I wasn't sure how she might react and I was afraid to tell Jeremy because he'd probably want to tell Stefan or Bonnie anyway, so I didn't. Jeeze Damon, the one time I really could have handled having you around and you go pull a disappearing act." 

She laughed hollowly. 

"Never thought I'd admit this, but I needed you big time," she rolled her eyes "and I really really don't believe I'm saying this, but I'm just glad you came back, because I don't know what to do for her and I can't keep covering for her. Sooner or later Stefan is going to find out. So far we've been lucky, none of her other slips have been as big, but I don't know if that's because it was her first kill, or just blind luck that her recent kills have been in more isolated places, ones that don't have so many potential victims." 

Seeming to run out of words, Caroline's eyes bore in to his expectantly. She was obviously waiting for him to say something, but he wasn't quite sure what he could really say, or if he should say anything at all.  
Strangely conflicted, Damon hesitated. On one hand he was weirdly touched that Caroline seemed to put so much stock in his problem solving skills, but then on the other, he found himself more than a little pissed off that yet again, he was only wanted because they needed those skills. 

Typical really, never would have thought of looking for me if it wasn't for their little killer vamp problem. Now I'm supposed to just put my life on hold while I clean up their mess, yet again. When the fuck did I become the good guy? He thought quizzically.

 

"Look blondy...” he sighed and rubbed at his tired eyes 

"Like I told Stefan, I'll see Elena if she has no objections, but and I can't stress this enough, yes I'll help if I can, one because Stefan is my brother and two because your mother doesn't need the headache that a vampire serial killer would give her, but I'm not doing it for Elena." he frowned

"My guard dog days are over Caroline. Elena is not my problem anymore and as soon as this is done I'm out of this town for good. Understood? “He added harshly.

“And just so you know... and believe me it's for your own good; Faith is not someone you want to piss off in any way, so you stay out of her face Missy." 

 

She opened her mouth to interject the expression on her face indignant, but he cut her off with a gesture.

"Ah ah ah, before you say anything," he said wagging his finger at her "Yes, before you ask, I am going to do the full disclosure thing, but I want everybody together so I don't have to repeat myself. As for Faith... I'm serious Caroline so listen up, first up Faith and my relationship with her is not up for discussion so drop any thought you might have of digging. Secondly and from your point of view far more importantly, Faith kills vampires for fun, so do not get in her face. She knows the score here, but I'm not about to underestimate your ability to piss off a rock if you put your mind to it, so stay respectful."

Getting up from the couch he turned and smirked down at her. 

"And Barbi, the not pissing her off thing... that goes double for Me." he tapped her on the nose lightly, his expression indulgent as she glared at him. 

"Now, I'm going upstairs to grab some sleep. Do me a favour and get all the usual suspects together" he paused thoughtfully "just to be safe we better meet on neutral ground, somewhere where the humans in our little tea party are gonna be safe. And while you're at it, fill your mom in please. I'm probably going to need her help at some stage and I don't particularly relish the thought of being the messenger. Besides which, I'm not taking the blame for you people concealing all this from her. Your moms a smart woman and a friend, not something I have a lot of," he added before continuing " she probably already has suspicions so I don't think keeping her in the dark would be the wisest course of action, especially now, not with the other stuff I have to tell you about."

He pinned her with a look. One that clearly said do not ask.

"Right, I'm gone. Come wake me when you've organized everything." He waggled his eyebrows flirtatiously.   
"You make sure to knock... Loudly "he added. “I could get very grumpy if you don't and I don't think Faith would appreciate you getting an eyeful either, so make sure you remember." he grinned at her disgusted look before sweeping from the room with a tongue in cheek bow and a cocky laugh.

 

He was safely out of her line of sight before he let his shoulders slump, the tiredness from before washing over him in waves as he headed up to his room and the woman waiting there.


	5. Chapter 5

Closing the door quietly, Damon turned towards the bed. 

Unbuttoning his shirt, he studied the woman curled up and deeply asleep atop the undisturbed covers. It looked to him as though she'd fallen asleep waiting for his return and he was touched that she'd cared enough to even attempt staying awake, especially when she had to be even more tired than he was.

He smiled with indulgence, thinking about how young she looked lying there and how pissed she'd be if she knew what he was thinking.

Slipping the shirt from his shoulders he sighed wistfully; thinking that once again his day had not gone as he'd planned. Instead of enjoying his bed and the woman in it, here he was once again caught up in the drama of Mystic Falls and the people he'd left behind. 

He'd been back for all of five minutes and already Elena Gilbert was dis-rupting his life and his hard won contentment. 

What the hell had she been thinking telling Caroline all that crap about wrong decisions? She'd made it plenty clear to him that it was always going to be Stefan, no matter what feelings she might harbour for himself. 

Seeing her in the morgue clinging to his brother that last night, had only underlined the fact. 

 

When he'd burst into the room desperate to make sure that Meredith had-n't lied, she hadn't even been able to meet his eyes. She'd hidden her face in Stefan's shoulder and had refused to look at him, even when he'd asked if she was okay. Stefan had been the one to reassure him, telling him that Elena would be coming back to the boarding house as soon as the paper-work got sorted. 

And inevitably; knowing that Stefan had used the paperwork excuse as a delaying tactic so Elena would have some time to adjust, it was Damon that had chased down Meredith Fell and made sure that there would be no re-percussions from her meddling.

After that, he'd gone back to the boarding house for one last trip. 

Knowing he had very little time before Stefan and Elena arrived, he'd hast-ily packed a bag, grabbed some blood for the road and left. 

The whole time that he'd been doing what needed to be done, all he could think of was her words to him from their last conversation. Her; ‘I never un-fell for him’ speech ringing in his head. The pain now that everything was over, rolling through him like   
nothing he'd ever experienced.

Damon had once believed that losing Katherine was the worst pain he'd ever know, but losing Elena made the former pale in comparison. His heart had felt like it was breaking into a thousand pieces and he knew if he did-n't get as far away from Mystic Falls as he could, this time it might very well kill him. 

She had let him go... 

And he'd known with sudden blinding clarity that if he wanted to survive, he'd have to do the same.

 

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he toed of his shoes and pulled off his socks before standing and shedding his jeans. Naked, he pulled the covers back and carefully repositioned Faith until she was under them. Pushing his un-wanted thoughts away he focused on the present, determined to leave the past where it belonged.

He noted that Faith had removed her jeans and Damon decided; even though like him she preferred to sleep in the nude, he'd leave her be. She'd be comfortable enough in her tee-shirt and panties this one time. He smiled again. She would be quick to change that once she woke up, of that he was sure. And as good as it felt to have her naked body pressed up against him; he really didn't need the temptation at the moment. He knew both of them needed sleep more than anything else. 

Climbing into bed, he pulled her into his arms and nuzzled into the back of her neck. It was a testament to the trust that had built between them; espe-cially in the relatively short time that they had been together, that she did-n't wake. Her Slayer senses staying dormant despite his vampiric nature. Instead, she let out a soft contented noise and burrowed deeper under the covers and even closer to him. 

His arms tightened around her as he laid a gentle kiss on the back of her neck. Closing his eyes, he breathed in her comforting scent and let his need for sleep claim him.

 

So Damon slept and sleeping, dreamt of his last night in Mystic Falls. How-ever this time in his dream Elena was alone in the morgue when he'd ar-rived.

In the dream she was awake; her arms reaching for him as soon as he en-tered the room. 

Rushing to her side and holding her tightly, he tried to tell her how sorry he was that he wasn't able to stop what had happened. That he'd never forgive himself for not being in town to watch over her like he should have been. 

Rocking her gently, he told her he understood that she'd chosen Stefan but he just couldn't help himself, he had to see her one last time. Placing a kiss on her bowed head he murmured that he loved her; that he would always love her and that he understood. 

The dream changed then, the dim light in the morgue turning sinister the girl in his arms starting to convulse. It was all Damon could do to hold on to her. Then just as suddenly as she had started she stopped, her body becoming boneless and her head lolling against his arm.

Laying her now unconscious body back on the table, Damon franticly checked her for signs of life but her form was disconcertingly still. Knowing she hadn't been awake long enough to fail at the transition, he was on the verge of panic when her eyes flew open.

Staring into her eyes; he froze. 

Instead of her normal brown or even the blood red eyes of a vampire, the gaze that met his was alarming. Her pupils were wide and dark, but the rest of her eyes were a shifting canvas of red and gold; their motion reminiscent of an open fire. Staring into their strange beauty he found himself pinned by a near alien fierceness. Held motionless by his own shock and her compelling gaze, he barely had time to register the lengthening of her canines before she was on him.

As she lunged; riding his body to the floor, her fangs flashed with the re-flected light from the hallway. Pinning him there with a strength that was far superior to his she snarled, her head rearing back to strike. His stunned eyes; locking with her hellish ones as she rasped out four words. 

"The Alpha is coming." 

And then his whole world burned with pain as she struck, those deadly teeth sinking into his throat.

 

The pain in his throat catapulted him from his dream; Damon lunged awake with a fear soaked burst of adrenalin. 

Gasping out un-needed breath, he stared unseeing, at the woman standing at the end of his bed. Mind still lost in the dream it took him a moment to realize that the figure was real, not just a leftover figment from his night-mare.

"Elena!" he managed to gasp out, before registering the fact that he wasn't the only one that was awake.

Seconds later Faith threw herself forward, her slayer senses urging her to strike before being struck. 

In a blur of speed that even Damon was hard pressed to follow, Elena side-stepped Faith's attack. Stumbling and off balance Faith found herself caught by the throat and held suspended, her feet kicking uselessly.

Finally jolted out of his dream fog he moved to intervene, only to find him-self shoved backwards; landing off balance and startled on the rumpled bed less than a second later.

Blinking back a groan of pain from a probable broken rib, he levered him-self into an upright position and took in the scene before attempting any-thing else.

Elena still had Faith suspended by the throat, but her attention was all on him. Her eyes as in the dream burnt a strange red gold and the fury in them took his breath away.

"Elena Don't" he hissed desperately. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Put her down" he ordered, sud-denly furious.

Along with the anger the familiar blur to his vision told him that his vam-piric nature had risen to meet her perceived threat.

Perversely and much to his surprise, his anger instead of rousing her ire even further seemed to have the opposite effect. His own rage disappeared and his features melted back to their normal attractiveness, as he regis-tered her stricken expression. 

Elena blinked once then a second time, her eyes changing back to the rich chocolate brown that he was so familiar with. Her hand opened convul-sively and Faith fell to the floor coughing and gasping even as she rolled to her feet.

"Damon!" Elena whispered, shaking her head slowly as she stepped back.

Her large eyes filled with tears and her hands came up to cover her mouth as she watched Faith take up a protective stance by Damon's side. Her eyes switched from Faith to him and Damon felt his heart clench at the pain and hurt in those familiar eyes. 

Belatedly grabbing a sheet to cover his nakedness, he rose from the bed and moved cautiously towards her. 

Faith seeing his intention tensed and Damon without taking his eyes off Elena, motioned with one hand for her to stay back.

"What's this all about Elena? He asked gently, his voice as calm as he could make it under the circumstance. 

"I know I've been gone awhile but I thought we were friends? Why attack my girlfriend? That’s not like you" he offered. His manner and tone kind as he tried to soothe the girl.

His words seemed to trigger the tears that up until then had only been a threat. They overflowed as her face twisted into an expression Damon couldn't ever remember seeing before and had no way to interpret.

"Damon" she sobbed out. 

Reaching for him with one out stretched hand she took a step towards him, only to halt as Faith shifted into her line of vision.

Gasping, she seemed to freeze for a moment before shaking her head as if in vehement denial; her eyes flitting from Faith and back to him. Then with a last sob and a burst of vampiric speed, she turned and fled the room as silently as she'd come.

 

"What the Fuck!" exclaimed Faith, whirling to face him. 

"What the hell was that all about?" she demanded irately. 

"I thought you said she was your brothers’ girl. That there Damon is not a chick that thinks of you as a potential brother in-law."

She frowned, her mouth twisted in anger.

"And what's up with the fiery eyes thing while we're at it? Coz there ain’t no way she's your garden type regular vamp" she grated out rubbing at her throat. 

"Goddamn it Damon, just how many types of vamp are there anyway? And why the fuck didn't you tell me about her?" she demanded, her eyes meeting his challengingly.

Dropping her gaze to look for his discarded jeans, Damon just shook his head.

"I have no fucking clue about any of this and even less clue about the eye thing" he shot back, his obvious confusion and surprise doing more to calm Faith down than his words ever could. 

Pulling his jeans up and fastening them, he reached for his shirt.

"But I sure as hell intend to find out" he spat out. 

"As for the whole Stefan and Elena thing" he shrugged helplessly. "I told you what happened between us. As far as I'm concerned she's Stefan's problem. I'm here to help with the councils prophesy and then I'm gone. Fucking town" he muttered, thrusting his arms into his shirt.

 

Turning to face her, he reached out and placed both hands on her tense shoulders.

"Faith, I'm asking you to trust me" he caught her eye "I'm gonna go find her and have this out, but you have to either stay here or go down stairs. I need to talk to her privately and having a slayer with me would only cause more problems." 

He drew her in to his arms and caressed her forehead with his mouth. 

"You know I care about you Faith and I trust you more than anyone I've ever been with, but this is something I have to do by myself. I don't know what's gotten into her, but I've got a feeling that the only way I'm going to find out is if we’re alone." 

He sighed heavily as she tensed. 

"Look, according to what Stefan and Caroline said earlier this is the most responsive she's been in nearly a year, so I need to find her before it changes or she pulls a disappearing act." he offered, trying to explain.

Seeing her decision to trust him overtake her suspicion, he gave her one of his rare and genuine smiles, before kissing her lightly and stroking her cheek.

"I'll fill you in later... I promise" he offered. Meeting her brief frown of worry as he looked up from buttoning his shirt, he reached for her hand.

"Promise I'll be back soon... Stay safe babe." 

Giving her another light kiss, he let her hand go and quickly exited the room before she could ask any of the questions he could see hovering on her lips.

 

Grimacing, Faith sank back on the bed. 

As the door closed behind him she couldn't help thinking that her stay in Mystic Falls had just gotten a whole lot more personal. 

Because whether Damon knew it or not, Elena Gilbert; no matter what she might have said in the past, was very much Not his brothers girl. 

And Faith was fearful of what that might mean for she and Damon. As close as they had become in their short time together, she had no idea how he was going to react when he finally realised that Elena Gilbert was in love with him.


	6. Leap of Faith

As soon as Damon hit the hallway he stilled for a moment to catch his figurative breath and calm his senses. 

Standing motionless in a half buttoned shirt and bare feet, he opened those senses and sought for her scent. As he'd half expected her trail led back up stairs, towards Stefan's room?

Reaching the hallway that led to his brothers bedroom, he was still surprised; despite Stefan's earlier words, when her scent; instead of leading to his brothers door, led to the only other bedroom on that floor.

Pushing the door open without knocking, he strode into the dimly lit room.

Elena was sitting pressed up against the head of the bed, her face buried in the shelter of the arms clasped around her knees. At Damon's entry, her head rose and her tear filled eyes met his.

"Hello Elena." Damon offered, moving cautiously towards the bed.

He studied the wide eyed girl, trying to gauge her mood; before engaging in any further conversation that could potentially cause a repeat of her earlier meltdown.

She seemed calmer than she had been, but he knew how subject to change a vampire's mood swings could be, so he was careful to move slowly and to keep his tone neutral as he moved closer.

The memory of his dream and the state of her eyes, both in and out of said dream, flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed the idea of asking her about it. 

Something told him; there was a lot more going on here than a bad turning. 

He decided to see if she'd bring it up herself, rather than ask her about it. 

He had the strangest hunch that talking to her about her eyes, would not help the situation. Something in her manner and the fragility of her expression left him with the sneaking suspicion, that she was very much unaware of the startling changes that he and Faith had witnessed . And if that hunch was true? Well, he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

 

"So, are you planning on telling me what that was all about, or were you just going to hide out up here for the rest of the day and hope that I'd just ignore the whole invasion of privacy thing?" he drawled teasingly, brow quirked enquiringly.

Elena shivered visibly, her arms tightening around her legs.

"I...I thought..."She stopped, seeming to be lost for words. 

The white knuckled grip on her knees and rapid blinking, told Damon that she was barely holding it together. Her alleged state of catatonia seemingly absent, perhaps overwhelmed by the emotions that his presence stirred.

Damon waited. He knew shock when he saw it and at this moment Elena could have been the poster child for it. He realised if he wanted to get any-thing out of her, he'd have to let her get past it without his help.

He watched as she swallowed hard and visibly tried to relax. When she eventually started to speak, her words were halting, but she seemed to holding it together, for the moment at least.

 

"I thought you were dead. I... that is...Stefan... he...he told me that they couldn't find you...that Bonnie couldn't find you. You just disappeared...and...I...I thought I'd never see you again." 

As he studied her face she flinched, her hands coming up to cover her eyes.

"Oh God! don't look at me." she pleaded "You don't know what I've be-come...I... I'm a monster and I..." she trailed off, seemingly lost as her hands dropped away, only to meet his gaze with obvious reluctance.

"I'm...I...I was glad, glad that you weren't here to see me do the stuff I've done. But God, Damon, I...I’ve missed you so much. More than I thought possible" she confessed quietly, her voice hitching with emotion.

"Why did you leave Damon, w...was it because of me...my becoming a vampire? Did you stop loving me be- because I'm like Katherine now?" she choked out, her hands moving restlessly, as though she didn't quite know what to do with them. 

Her face as she spoke was a mask of confusion and pain and the raw hurt in her voice had him clenching his own fists hard enough for his nails to draw blood .

In truth, he was taken aback that she had even mentioned his feelings.  
In the past, it had always been the elephant in the room, only spoken about in times when there was no way for her to avoid it. 

But as usual when it came to Elena's distress, Damon could no sooner help himself than he could grow wings and fly to the moon. The moment he'd seen the expression on her face, he'd felt all his carefully erected defences start to crumble. 

His own hurt and anger fleeing, he moved to her side and took her in his arms; his first impulse as always, to comfort her. 

 

"Shh. silly silly girl, that's just stupid talk." he stated reproachfully "I didn't leave for any of those reasons." he confessed, not sure what else to say. 

"I'll always lo...care about you Elena." he winced internally, hoping that she'd missed his near slip. "I...I just had to go. It... It was time." He admitted, none too steadily. 

Stroking her hair tenderly, he used his free hand to tilt her chin up so he could look into her eyes.

His demeanour was uncharacteristically sober, as he tried to avoid disclosing his and Stefan's agreement.

"I left because there was nothing here for me anymore," he added solemnly. 

Closing his eyes briefly to hide the pain behind his words, Damon opened them again seconds later. Determined not to let her see just how much he'd been effected by his own words, he tried to inject his usual amount of levity into the now one sided conversation.

"Klaus was dead and Stefan was back to his normal boring bunny eating self, neither of you needed me hanging around muddying up the waters." 

He looked away for a moment, as he tried yet again to tamp down the emotions that his careful mix of truth and lies had stirred. 

The last thing Elena needed was him dropping all his emotional baggage on her. Besides which, nothing had changed, it was still Stefan. It would always be Stefan.

"So" he continued, his resolve firming with his last thought.  
"I thought it was best, to just go. I knew Stefan would look after you and I figured once you realised that you were still Elena, you'd be fine with the whole vampire thing... You're so strong Elena; I never would have gone, if I'd thought differently.” 

Meeting her eyes again, he smiled somewhat wistfully. 

"Besides, I figured you and Stefan could finally get on with your epic love story without me hanging around and hey... super strength and speed, it's not like you were gonna need either of us to baby sit you anymore; especially with Klaus out of the picture." 

He smirked, his words if not the tone deliberately teasing. But the smirk was quick to fade as he took in the distressed look, which his deliberate lightness had failed to dispel.

"I truly thought you would be fine." he added contritely, his expression once again serious

"And Elena..." he continued sternly, remembering the look in her eyes right before she'd covered her face "I don’t care what you've done... You could never be a monster...not in my eyes."

"Now, how about you tell me what's been going on" he requested, his demeanour turning deliberately practical, as he endeavoured to get back some emotional, if not physical distance. 

"Stefan and Blondie have filled me in on some of what's been happening while I've been gone, but I think I better hear it from your perspective. After all, those two aren't exactly unbiased when it comes to you." he added with a roll of his eyes. 

"Ah, ah ah" he said cutting her off when she looked like she was going to protest. 

"This is Damon you’re talking to," he reminded her chidingly 

"I'm the big bad monster and nothing you tell me is going to change the way I think of you. There is nothing and I mean Nothing," he declared, emphasising the nothing with his hardest most determined stare, "that you could do or have ever done, that would  
shock me in the least. I've probably done worse a thousand times over, so no sugar coating...Okay" he ordered firmly.

Leaning back slightly, he studied the turmoil on her face; waiting patiently for her to tell him in her own words what he wanted to know.

In a transparent attempt at avoidance, Elena dropped his gaze and focused on her hands. 

Hands; clamped so tightly on his arm that he knew if not for his preternatural healing, would have left bruises that lasted days.

When she eventually managed to gather herself together and speak, Damon stilled, knowing that half the battle would be won by her getting everything off her chest and that letting her take her time was the best and only way to do it. 

 

By the time Elena finished giving him a blow by blow account of what little she remembered, Damon had decided that no matter what was going on and despite his understandable reluctance, this was something that he definitely had to speak to Faith about. 

Because when it came down to it; Faith, though not as long lived as he, had a far more eclectic and ranged experience of the supernatural world. With Elena's experiences and after his own strangely prophetic dream from earlier, he was starting to believe there was more going on here, than any of them knew.

The details that she had given, though sketchy at best, were far too off the map for any run of the mill vamp, never mind a newly turned one that in life had been nothing but kind and caring. 

Remembering how even someone as monstrous as he considered himself to be, had been subject to her compassion and understanding more times than he deserved, only made him surer that something was wrong with this whole scenario. 

And Damon; despite his sometimes flippant and cynical attitude, wasn't a total idiot. He'd survived nearly one hundred and seventy years; more than long enough to know that what you were as a human informed what you became as a vamp. So horrific details aside; the things that Elena told him just didn't make any sense.

For one, according to her, the details of the actual killings were a blank. It was just as Stefan and Caroline had said. The aftermath was her only clear recollection. 

Secondly, the violence of the kill's, according to Caroline and confirmed by Elena herself, were ripper level, if not worse and Damon couldn't bring himself to believe any normal vampire could engage in that much carnage; not without having some sort of memory of the incidents. Even Stefan at his worst remembered fragments of his killing sprees.

Sure, Elena might have blocked out details of the more traumatic kills, but there was no way he was going to believe that that level of slaughter could be blanked out completely, it just wasn't possible. 

She should at the very least be having disturbing if not horrific nightmares. But according to her, she slept very little and when she did her sleep was mostly dreamless. She said what few dreams she did have were about normal everyday things, though he had to wonder if she wasn't hiding some-thing when she blushed and refused to meet his eyes. 

Other than that, she'd told him that the one or two nightmare's she had had in the last year were all about the people she'd lost because of Klaus and his attendant insanity.

All of which; added to her strange and unexpected appearance in his bed-room, left him feeling like there was something very rotten in the state of Denmark. 

 

And that was without even taking his dream into account.

Then last but not most definitely not least, was the fact that Faith had seen the strange thing with her eyes as well. Something that Damon still had no credible explanation for.

Elena’s words both in his dreams and moments later in his bedroom, were troubling and both for different reasons. And though he himself had used dreams to invade a person's mind in the past, he couldn't help feeling that this dream felt more like a warning, than a threat.

 

Lost deep in rumination, he was jolted from his thoughts by her abrupt at-tempt to leave his arms. 

The whole time she'd been talking, she'd seemed content to lie passive in his embrace and he, sensing her need for contact, had held her and tried to ignore how right it felt to have her there.

But as she attempted to break his loose hold, his attention became once again focused solely on her. 

Tightening his grip instinctively he tried to capture her gaze, but she re-fused to meet his eyes, even as she managed to pull away from him.

Damon frowned as he watched her move towards the window, her obvious agitation tugging at his own need to pull her back into his arms and reassure her. While conversely the voice in the back of his mind was again reminding him; that this was the girl who'd rejected him and who'd ultimately chosen his brother. 

He had promised himself; the moment he knew that he was heading back to Mystic Falls, that he was not going to involve himself in Elena Gilbert’s life anymore and yet here he was. Less than a day had gone by and he was back to wanting to protect her at any cost. Determined to save her, like always. 

And it killed him that even now, instead of being disgusted by his own weakness, he found himself more distressed over the reality behind her current actions.

Even with everything that had gone on over the last year and her avowal of missing him, she was still blatantly uncomfortable being held and comforted by him. 

And that hurt him more than he would ever admit. 

Her and her fucking damned inherent honesty; even now it wouldn't allow her one more moment of taking those things from someone she didn't love, someone other than his brother.

Snarling internally, he fought the urge to grab her and shake her until her teeth rattled.

Controlling his emotions around Elena had always been a challenge for Damon and this time was no exception. He felt a year's worth of bitter an-ger well up inside him, and it took every ounce of control that he possessed not to lose it and do something he'd regret later.

Here he was again, being rejected by the woman he'd loved enough to die for. 

He should just leave, take Faith and go stay in a hotel until their business was sorted. Get as far away from Elena and her problems as he could.  
After all, what did he owe her? 

Nothing is what he owed. He was done sticking his neck out for a girl that couldn't even stand being in his company a moment longer than was necessary. 

She might have missed his presence and his help, but she sure as hell hadn't missed him, not if she couldn't stand his touching her; even if it was only in comfort.

 

As his thoughts whirled in his head, Damon deliberately schooled his expression into one of polite blankness, determined not to let her see how much her rejection still had the ability to wound him.

Eyes icy and calculating, he squashed any feelings of pity. Watching her wipe away her tears as she turned back to face him, he decided then and there that he was done. 

This was the last time he was going to allow himself to feel anything for her. Like he's said earlier, she was Stefan's problem and as Stefan's only family he'd help, but he was determined that it would be the only reason.

Lost in his anger, it took him a moment to register that she had just spoken to him.

 

"Sorry?" he offered blankly, sure he couldn't have heard her properly.

"I...I asked you if that girl you brought with you... well you said, she... that she's your girlfriend... and I was...that is...I...I wanted to know... D-do you love her?" she managed to ask, her eyes seeming enormous in her pale face.

Her expression was strained, but those eyes when they met his swam with emotions he couldn't begin to decipher. 

"Is she the reason... is she... wh- why you stayed away? 

"She swallowed hard, her eyes dropping from his. 

"Does she make you happy?... I mean she must coz I've never heard you call anyone that before... Girlfriend that is... Um.... I... That is ...sh-she's very beautiful" she blurted, before whirling back to face the window. 

 

Damon unashamedly gaped, the unmistakable sound of a partially stifled sob breaking from the girl whose back was now facing him.

Then his brain kicked in and his eyes narrowed in calculation. 

Why in the hell was she asking him personal questions and acting like she cared . More to the point, why the fuck ask if he loved Faith? 

Even when they were sometime friends she'd never given a damn about the girls he bedded. The closest she'd ever come to reacting was with that bitch Barbyklaus and he knew that was more about his sleeping with the enemy, than any real jealousy.

Gritting his teeth, he stared at her back. Trying to puzzle out some meaning behind her strange actions, Damon found himself at a complete loss for words. Flailing for something to say he shifted uncomfortably, before realising that she apparently hadn't  
finished whatever it was that she'd been trying to say. 

"I'm sorry about that Damon, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable" she apologised, her speech still hesitant but less disjointed than be-fore. 

"I know you're together, I should never have broken down like that... It was wrong of me to expect you t-to" her breath hitched and another sob broke loose. "I'm s-sorry" she apologised again, her voice becoming strained.

"I know I don't have the right to ask anything from you. And it was stupid of me t-to think that just coz you came back..." she stopped, apparently re-thinking whatever she'd been about to say. 

Her shoulders stiffened in what Damon recognised as an attempt to gain control.

Turning to face him, he saw her lips press into a thin line, as though trying to suppress some strong emotion. 

"That is" she continued, her mouth curving into a tentative smile that didn't reach her eyes" I just thought you should know, that I'm glad you're back and I'm happy that you found someone. I'm pleased for you Damon, you're a good man and you deserve to be happy” she finished. Her tone of voice was sincere, but like her smile it didn't convince him.

 

As he stared back at her in bemusement, her smile faded and her eyes darted away from his down to her clenched hands.

His eyebrows drew together at both her words and actions. 

What the hell was up with her? One minute she was distraught the next she was acting like Stepford Elena, he just couldn't figure her out. The whole thing was doing a number on his head; he really didn't know what to make out of her bizarre speech.

Moving towards her, Damon's head dipped in an attempt to catch her eye.

She continued to avoid looking at him and his attention was drawn back to her now trembling bottom lip and the lone tear that trailed down her cheek.

He was an arm span away when she turned her back to him once again. Her body shook with what he quickly came to realise were sobs that she tried hard, but ultimately failed to suppress. 

Coming up behind her, he placed both hands on her shoulders and turned her body to face his.

Anger now tightly under control, his hands rested loosely on her upper arms as he tilted his head and crouched low enough to peer into her face. 

When she continued to avoid his eyes, he grasped her chin firmly and turned her face to his. 

 

"Elena look at me" he demanded, his frustration mounting as she closed her eyes. Fingers tightening on her chin, he growled when her eyes scrunched tighter and her whole body started to tremble.

Releasing her chin, Damon frowned as her body only seemed to shake harder as he stepped away. Seconds later he jerked in surprise as she lost whatever internal battle she'd been fighting, her stifled misery finally bursting forth in a torrent of tears. 

She seemed to fold in upon herself and it was all he could do to catch her before she slid to the floor.

"Elena...Elena. What's wrong? He asked, alarmed at her sudden loss of control.

Gathering her in to his body, he was startled when she suddenly came to life in his arms. 

But instead of pushing him away like he expected, her arms came up around his neck and she clung to him with fierce strength; as though he would disappear if she didn't hold on tight enough.

Her body moulded to his and he could feel every quivering inch of her as she raised her head to finally meet his eyes.

 

He had only a moment to register the wild look in her eyes, then her mouth was on his and she was kissing him like he was water in the desert.

**Author's Note:**

> Please Review.


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